Grima Wormtongue, King of the Sycophants, a.k.a. Hitler's best pal. What do you know about Albert Speer?

 He was an architect.  Well, sort of....

A Nazi rally at Nurnberg.  Real.

A site in Hitler's fantasy capitol, Germania (well, Berlin, actually).

Not Real.

Not Real.  In many ways, those two words embody the work (and life) of Hitler's architect and buddy Albert Speer.  Here's what he looked like:

Nothing scary, right? A nice, early-balding bourgeois.  But wait.  Look down.

Whoops.  Who's that with our budding little builder?

Ah, there's our good little Nazi, the Minister of Armaments.

So you might be asking yourself, Dear Reader, how did Speer go from architect to ammo guy?  Alrighty then, let's try and recount how it happened.

First, a little bio of Speer:

He was born in Mannheim, to a family I suppose one could call upper middle class.  By all accounts, his childhood was a little harsh, lacking in overt demonstrations of affection from either parent.  As a boy, Albert liked sports, particularly skiing.

Even as a kid Albert was interested in art and design, and quickly made it known that he wished to follow his dad and grandad in architecture.  For his university training, Albert attended a series of prestigious institutions:  the Technical University of Munich and then the Technical University of Berlin.  It was at the latter school that Albert worked with a professor who would have an indelible effect on his life:  Heinrich Tessenow.  Indeed, his relationship with Tennenow was so successful, that Albert landed a job as his assistant.  He was 22.

In 1922, Albert began dating Margarete Weber, a girl who was thoroughly middle class--but her family was classed as artisan, by others of the same relative social standing.  Artisan was therefore a somewhat derogatory term.  Because of her background, Albert's parents did not give their blessing to the union.  Speer didn't care, and the couple married in August, 1928.  It would be 7 years before Albert's parents would consent to meet his wife.

Alright, so his parents were jerks.  Margarete and Albert would go on to have six children...

...and were rather well-matched.  It's sad to note, though, that Albert remained distant from his family for the rest of his life.  Because of their opposition to his choices? Who knows?

 Albert joined the Nazi Party in 1931.  Historians speculate that this occurred after Speer heard Hitler speak--one uncomfortable factoid about ole Adolf, is that he dripped charisma.  He certainly netted our young architect.  It wasn't long before his talent as an architect caught Hitler's eye--a contributing factor was Speer's design for a Nürnberg party rally (pictured above). It was revolutionary (for the time), using more than 100 search lights, which had been borrowed from the Luftwaffe.  Historians still refer to it as the 'cathedral of light':

If you want to vomit, Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will" shows a sh*&load of rally's, some of which were orchestrated by Albert Speer:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6uajey

 As much as I hate to admit this, the lights were effective as hell.  Hitler adored the effect, and afterwards, Speer's career was off and running.  This would eventually lead to Albert being put in charge of various building projects for the new Reich chancellor.

In spite of Hitler's enthusiasm, Speer actually completed few of the projects..  One completed building was the Reich Chancellery:

My oh my...ancient Rome anybody?

Sigh.  Caligula would have been happy here.

OMG!! There's Julius Caesar, lurking in the corner! But, wait:  what's behind door number three?

This was the self-proclaimed god's office.  Tell me, Dear Reader, do you think Hitler was compensating for a small body part--and that Speer helped him with that

compensation?

It goes without saying that Adolf was pleased with Speer.  He grew close to Hitler, taking walks with him during the day, often joining the dictator for meals.  As I previously mentioned, Hitler and Speer dreamed of re-creating the city of Berlin,.  In preparation for this project, Speer was given the job of evicting nearly 70,000 Jews from properties he intended to raize to the ground. How did he do this?  Simple:  he used the Nuremberg laws (a series of measures which were turned into so-called 'laws' by a group of barbarians).

What do you think happened to those displaced Jews, Dear Reader? Many of them ended up on the horrific, now infamous trains that transported them to their final 'destination.'

I'm sure that Speer thought nothing about this...indeed, during the Nuremberg trial, he claimed ignorance of the concentration camps. 

?????????????

Uh huh.

See Albert's doppelganger in the background? I guess he must have sent his double, so that he could later say that he was largely unaware of the concentration camps the entire time he was at Hitler's side.

By February, 1942, Hitler appointed Speer Minister of Armaments & Munitions.  Albert replaced former Minister Todt, who had recently been assassinated on his aircraft.  It was a job with wide-ranging responsibilities, he oversaw everything from roads, to water and power.  I guess you could say that Speer's middle name became 'Infrastructure.'  Upon assuming his responsibilities, Speer began a complete reorganization of Germany's rearmament industry.  Munition production immediately began to rise, surpassing all expectations (although some scholars dispute this, saying that the rise in production was equally due to Todt's reforms), but it was too late.  By 1942-1943, the tide of the war had shifted in favor of the allies.

As part of his duties, Speer participated in 'improving' Auschwitz, building over 300 structures to house new prisoners.  In addition to this, he also was responsible for providing supplies used in the construction of gas chambers and crematoriums.  In what was a criminal euphemism, such projects fell under the classification "Speer's Special Program."

A problem 'solved' by Speer had to do with a labor shortage in the weapons industry.  There weren't enough workers, and thus forced labor was introduced into the armaments factories.  This is where Fritz Sauckel entered the picture.  Hitler put Sauckel in charge of supplying laborers for Speer's weapons.  Albert had requested more than a million workers, and he got them--a mix of forced laborers and concentration camp victims.  So much for Albert's "ignorance" of Hitler's concentration camps.

NOTE:  if you're at all interested in the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," you should check out this film, "Conspiracy," with Kenneth Branagh, which is available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Kenneth-Branagh/dp/B0B8K1V7LC

In the trials at Nürnberg, Speer would later claim total ignorance that any worker in his various factories came from the concentration camps.  Instead, he blamed the use of concentration camp victims as forced labor, on his subordinate Fritz Sauckel.  We now know, based on records found after World War II, That Speer had full knowledge of the so-called final solution, and that a significant number of the munitions labor force was made up by prisoners.  This reveals an interesting fact about some of the Nazis, some of them were well educated, professional men who were seduced by the dark side of the force.

After the Nürnberg Trials' conclusion, Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging.

One of the interesting programs Speer invested in, was Werner Von Braun's rocket program, which was responsible for producing the V 1 and V 2.  While there was ultimately little opportunity to fully utilize the rockets by 1944, the weapon pioneered important research into building later space programs.

And thus Speer continued, until 1944, when a leg injury landed him in the hospital.  Soon, he developed a lung embolism--how? That is a matter of some speculation, and it has been suggested (by those who love conspiracies), that Albert's worsened condition was somehow 'helped' along…by who knows? While he was convalescing, his rivals in Hitler's inner circle successfully destroyed Hitler's faith in him. 

Speer's control of the armaments ministry came under attack by Hitler's other cronies by late 1944--his influence with Hitler was on the wane.  

By 1945 it was clear, even to Albert, that the war was lost.  He began attempting in vain, to try and save Germany's economic infrastructure.  In March, 1945, Hitler issued the infamous "Nero Decree," which commanded the destruction of everything in the wake of his retreating army.  Hitler gave control of this project to Speer, who was horrified.  It was finally clear to him that Hitler was bonkers.  Speer did his best to thwart Hitler's command.

 

 By early April, 1945, only morons believed that Germany could still win the war.  I mean, Berlin had become the new favorite vacation spot for thousands of brassed off Russian soldiers.  By this time, Hitler had retreated to his bunker underneath the Reich Chancellery.  On the 22nd of that month, Speer visited his Fuhrer for the last time.  Little is known exactly what was said during that meeting.  Albert's fall from Hitler's grace was complete, when he was replaced as Arms Minister shortly before Adolf blew his brains out.  

Trying to salvage something of his career, Speer travelled to where Admiral Donitz (Hitler's named successor) was stationed.  Germany officially surrendered to the Allied command on May 23, 1945.

So, what happened after? Speer was tried as a war criminal at the Nuremberg Trial, for crimes against humanity.  With him in the docket were men like Rudolf Hess, and Herman Goering.  Speer immediately began creating a crafty defense:  he told his lawyer, Hans Flaschsner that he wished to admit a 'common responsibility’ for crimes committed by the Nazi regime.  As I've already told you, Speer blamed the use of concentration camp labor on his subordinate Fritz Sauckel.  What a guy, right?

And, you're not gonna believe this Dear Reader, but he denied any knowledge of the holocaust.  Unfortunately, the prosecution at Nuremberg were unable to find any written or filmic proof of his active complicity in this atrocity.  Thus, Speer was able to claim ignorance for the rest of his life.  

It wasn't until 2007, that a letter was found:

"Writing in 1971 to Hélène Jeanty, the widow of a Belgian resistance leader, Speer admitted that he had been at a conference where Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and Gestapo, had unveiled plans to exterminate the Jews in what is known as the Posen speech. Speer’s insistence that he had left before the end of the meeting, and had therefore known nothing about the Holocaust, probably spared him from execution after the Nuremberg trials at the end of World War II."

https://mg.co.za/article/2007-03-13-letter-proves-speer-knew-of-holocaust-plan/

Speer was ultimately found guilty for crimes against humanity, and using slave labor.  But, his clever and wily defense worked its' foul magic on the judges--instead of hanging, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.  Rudolf Hess was also spared, due to the perception that he had bats in his belfry—gag me with a spoon.

Speer served out his sentence at Spandau prison.  While incarcerated, he wrote his memoirs, entitling it Inside the Third Reich, which was smuggled out on thousands of pieces of paper.  He was finally released in October, 1966.  His book was published, becoming an international bestseller.  Later, he wrote Spandau:  the Secret Diaries, and finally Heinrich Himmler's Masterplan for SS Supremacy or Infiltration:  How Heinrich Himmler Schemed to Build an SS Industrial Empire.  Oh, Speer didn't do all the writing, indeed he had a couple of guys to help him.

In later years, Speer couldn't reestablish relations with his children--too much water under the bridge, I guess.  In old age, Albert made himself readily available to historians and journalists.  It was in London, 1981, that Speer had a stroke and died.  Peacefully.  In a bed.

So much for justice.

And yet, at least we know more about the truth of Speer's life, and the fallacy of the image he worked so hard to create after World War II.  

Until next week...